Thursday, July 2, 2015

Early this spring, the City of Minneapolis issued a citation to me for an illegal addition, failure to pull a permit for my greenhouse. Several deadlines have passed, and while I have visited the Inspections Dept. three times, I have not complied with the order.

More recently, the city sent me another citation, demanding I remove all grasses and weeds in the "ENTIRE YARD AND BOULEVARD" taller than eight inches, by July 02, or a
"CONTRACTOR MAY IMMEDIATELY CORRECT THIS CONDITION WITHOUT FURTHER
NOTICE AND ALL COSTS...WILL BE ADDED AS A SPECIAL ASSESSMENT AGAINST THE
PROPERTY."

I asked, but no definition of "weeds" was offered by Inspections. Half of the wildflowers in my garden, probably more than half of Americans would call them weeds. I do not trust the city contractor to know the difference.

I delivered copies of the following two letters to the Mayor, City Attorney, my council member, and the Inspections Dept, this afternoon.

Happy Independence Day :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To
whom it may concern, regarding my failure to apply for a building
permit from City of Minneapolis Inspections, for my greenhouse:

I
have wanted to build a greenhouse for a long time. For years, I have
been collecting old sliding glass doors, mostly through social
networking sites like Craigslist. In the Fall of 2013 I began
construction on the first half of a greenhouse, on the south side of
my house in Minneapolis. For the frame I used Cedartone treated
lumber; the second half, in the fall of 2014, I used old-growth
douglas fir, I reclaimed from a remodeling project near Lake of the
Isles in Minneapolis, during the housing bubble.

The
entire project cost me approximately $1000. Had I used douglas fir
instead of Cedartone on the first half, I could have reduced the cost
to $500. A glass greenhouse that size, purchased as a kit, might cost
$5000, $10,000-$15,000 installed.

In
the early spring of 2015, I received a letter from City of
Minneapolis Inspections, that I was in code violation for an illegal
addition, failure to apply for a permit. I went to the Inspections
Department downtown, to inform myself and to voice my concerns, and
to go on record.

A
Final Notice arrived,
when I did not apply for the permit, after which I visited
Inspections again, to clarify my concerns and to ask more questions.
When I did not pay for the permit, an Administrative Citation
arrived, May **, stating there was a $200 fine.

I
did not apply for a permit when I started building the greenhouse,
because I did not believe I needed a permit, because I did not attach
the greenhouse to the frame of the house, thus there was no
structural change to the house. As a former licensed general
contractor, I am familiar with building codes and the licensing
regime. I did not do the necessary research however, nor did I
contact Inspections to tell them what I was planning.

In
retrospect, the greenhouse is clearly in violation of building code,
insofar as it exceeds the 120 sq ft threshold requiring a permit, at
155 sq ft approximately - though there are no building codes specific
to the actual construction of greenhouses.

Primarily,
my concern in not applying for a permit is economic. As a maintenance
man for a small company managing group homes for the profoundly
autistic, my income in 2014 was $33,000 (with median household income
in the state of Minnesota @ $60,700.) I purchased my house in March
2006, as I like to say, 12 minutes before the market collapsed. I am
20% “under water.” I purchased the house @ $154,000; Hennepin
County has had it appraised as high as $169,000; six months on the
market in the summer of 2013, there was one offer @ $109,000. It is a
one-bedroom @ 750 sq ft, 1918 construction.

City
Inspections has the right to require me to hire an architect or an
engineer to assess the greenhouse. Because there are few codes
regulating greenhouses, there not being much in the way of precedent,
that seemed possible and even likely, which could add thousands of
dollars to the cost of construction.

Secondly,
as this is not a permanent structure necessarily, it is irrational to
inflate the cost as if it were permanent, or a living space. It is
experimental.

Third,
I am a long-time builder: I can build a house, I have built
townhouses, I have torn the roof off houses and added a second story.
I do not need an inspector or an engineer to tell me if my greenhouse
is structurally sound.

Fourth,
in this time, in this digital age, if I am able to document all that
I do in pictures and video, why do I need an inspector to stand
between me and a potential buyer? Indeed, the house is nearly 100
years old, a one-bedroom on a corner lot-and-a-half. The lot is
extensively wild-landscaped, with 200 species of plants and 30 fruit
trees. The most likely buyer would bulldoze the lot and build a
“McMansion” - making any inspections on this greenhouse and
house, a waste of resources. In fact, inspections do not remove me
from liability, if there is a danger to the general “health and
welfare” of the community. So precisely what is the point of
inspections?

Fifth,
there are a great many things I would like to do to my house, as an
experiment making my house stronger, more energy efficient, more
resilient, using reclaimed materials whenever I can, documenting
everything I do. Aside from the fact that I do not need Inspections
to tell me how to do that, I can't afford to pay for a permit every
time I want to start a project, nor risk excessive and arbitrary
fees, hiring engineers etc. My not being able to afford permits and
fees, should not preclude me from applying my expertise, working on
and experimenting with my house, changing it for changing times.

Sixth,
if America is indeed a Republic, or even a Democracy, government
exists to serve me, I do not exist to keep government economically
solvent. To some extent, the expectation that I submit to inspections
on this greenhouse, on my own house, is just the wheels of
bureaucracy churning: “the wheels of fate churn slowly, but they
churn exceedingly fine.” I do not accept inevitability, I do not
acquiesce merely because it is so, I do not pay the fee just because
I am told to. Unchecked government is the foundation of tyranny; in a
time in declining revenue for governments, in a time of peak social
complexity and institutional corruption, it is well documented that
governments and Institutions of all kinds, become predatory and
parasitic, particularly against the powerless.

My
greenhouse exceeded expectations in 2015. I maintain a big garden,
and a community garden for the autistic, for the company I work for.
My 2015 vegetable starts were the best I have ever grown, the
healthiest. If it is 0 degrees outside and the sun is shining, it
might be 70 in the greenhouse. The greenhouse actually helps heat the
house if the temperature outside is above 30 and the sun is shining.
My furnace didn't turn on after Mar 01 this year. The greenhouse acts
like an insulator, for heat loss in the house, at night in the
winter. I will be able to grow fresh greens all winter, 2015-2016.

I
realize, fighting inspections is a losing battle, insofar as the city
will get it's money “one way or another,” fining me until they
put the payment on my taxes, and then if I don't pay, putting a lien
on the house. Whatever the case, I am documenting all of it, blogging
about it, writing about it.

Sincerely,

William
Hunter Duncan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

City
of Minneapolis,

On
June 29, 2015, I received a citation from the City of Minneapolis,
Housing Inspection Services, about vegetation in my “yard”. The
letter states that I must remove all grass and weeds taller than 8”,
by July 02, in my “ENTIRE YARD AND BOULEVARD.”

My
“yard and boulevard”, which I call my “garden”, is landscaped
with appox. 200 species of wildflowers, wild medicinals, food and
fruit. There are grasses that are edible. I weed regularly. What many
consider weeds, are in fact wild flowers.

The
city receives perhaps hundreds of calls each year about my garden,
most if not all negative. The city does not hear from the many who
tell me that they love my garden, and walk by regularly to view it.

I
will comply with the order, to the degree I believe acceptable. I
will clear the boulevard near the corner and the alley; it is a
corner lot. I will pull all tree saplings. I will fence back the
vegetation along the sidewalk, and pull all vegetation growing in the
sidewalk. I will pull any weeds and saplings, but not the wildflowers
or climbing vines, from the alley.

I
will document all that I do. If contractors then remove anything by
cutting or spraying, I will document that as well. I have been
blogging about my garden since 2010. There are people across this
country, in as many as 10 different countries, aware of my garden.
Please respect this sanctuary oasis for birds and bugs. Thank you.